


Ideal

by Diary



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 05, Bechdel Test Fail, Bottle Episode Fic, Canon Character of Color, Canon Gay Character, Conversations, Cyrus Being Cyrus, Gen, M/M, Post-Episode AU: s05e17 Thwack!, Post-Season/Series 04 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 18:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6622411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at how Cyrus might handle Alex having the pictures. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ideal

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Scandal.

After almost everyone has gone home, Cyrus asks, “Governor, could I talk to you privately?”

“Sure,” Frankie agrees. “Come into my office.”

Inside, Cyrus closes the door and sits down. “There are some things I need you to know, and when I’m done telling you, I’ll explain why. Until then, could you please just let me get everything out?”

Giving him a concerned look, Frankie answers, “Of course. Is everything okay?”

“We’ll see about the answer to that after I’m done, too,” he answers.

Taking a breath, he says, “Michael and I aren’t- When James died, when he was killed, I was numb, and then, I couldn’t bear the numbness anymore. Elizabeth North took advantage of this. She wanted to blackmail me. I didn’t play ball.”

“At first, I hated Michael, and if I weren’t the best option he had now that his name, face, and profession was common knowledge, he would have left. But eventually, we found- common ground you might say. After I truly got a look at what drove him into this life, I couldn’t keep hating him. And once I stopped, he and Ella quickly bonded. He’s her Uncle Michael, now.”

“And if the story ended there, I wouldn’t be forcing myself to tell you this, but it doesn’t. When I was working on Governor Grant’s campaign, there was a Secret Service agent assigned to his detail. Tom Larsen. Tom moved to the White House when Fitz was elected.”

“Now, out of respect for James, I’m asking you to believe me when I say there never was anything there. Tom and I had a few drinks, we talked about this and that, and that was all. You might’ve called us friends.”

“After James died and I was seeing Michael, Tom and I became closer. He wanted to help me, and honestly, he did a better job than anyone else at it. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate all that my loved ones did for me, it’s just- I don’t know, he somehow made things a little better in ways that the others simply couldn’t. And our closeness, it almost became something more. I didn’t know or realise it at the time, but he and it were more real than Michael and what Michael and I had.”

“He’d been thinking about going into private security ever since the assassination attempt on Fitz, and what was starting to happen between us, it gave him the final push. He resigned, started looking into other options, and we kept sporadic contact.”

“Shortly after you were shot, he called me and asked for a place to stay for a week or two. Now, normally, I wouldn’t have had any problem with giving him the guest room, but that week, Ella had the flu or a persistent bug, something that left her feverish and cranky and restless, Michael had gotten food poisoning, and I thought it would be best for everyone if he didn’t. Instead, I sent him to a suite I have on permanent hold at the Grand District Hotel.”

“Once Ella and Michael were okay, we met up, and that’s when things changed. He’s not just a friend, anymore, sir.”

Sighing, Cyrus says, “Alex found out about this. He was over at my house earlier with pictures to show Michael.”

“What? Cyrus, I’m sorry, he never-”

“I keep one of James’s pillows in a plastic bag,” Cyrus interrupts. “I take it once a year and hope I’ll still be able to smell him on it. I still sometimes turn his laptop on and read his writings. But when it comes down to it, those are just things. Ella truly is the last part of James I have left.”

“Michael and I have an arrangement. We keep everything discreet, and we never do anything that would let Ella come into contact with strange men. Ella might not remember him, but Tom was around when she was a baby and still very young. Obviously, now that we’re more, it wouldn’t be right to have him over, but at the time, if not for all the sickness, I wouldn’t have considered it a problem.”

“If all of this gets out, Ella’s life radically changes, and for her sake and for James’s, I will do anything to keep that from happening,” he declares.

“That said, I’m not going to stop seeing Tom. My grief might have opened up something that never would have happened otherwise, I don’t know, but he isn’t a mistake I made at one of the lowest points in my life. Like James and Michael, he is significantly younger than I am, but just like James wasn’t, he isn’t me having a midlife crisis or whatever other reasons some older gay men have for chasing after younger ones.”

“This is not ideal, sir. I never cheated on James or Janet, my ex-wife. Getting more-or-less trapped in a marriage with someone who was willing to help blackmail me and being technically guilty of adultery, one thing that I honestly could never understand others doing, because I look at it like, why would you marry someone if you weren’t prepared to spend the rest of your life in one bed, isn’t ideal. But Tom is real, and I have to look out for my daughter.”

“So, if you need to find a different campaign manager, I understand. And I don’t- this is going to sound like a threat, but it’s not- If Alex leaks this, I’m going after your campaign. I’m willing to step aside, and I’m willing to promise not to work on anyone else’s campaign until the election is over, but anyone who goes after my family, I will go after them.”

“Me, Tom, and Michael, we’re all big boys, and we all, even Tom, to some extent, signed up for this, but my first grade daughter didn’t. She still cries for James, sometimes, and despite my best efforts, I’m always going to be more interested in my work than playing with her. In a few years, if Michael and I end up divorcing, I don’t know what that’s going to do to her. But for all my shortcomings, I am her father, I love her more than anything or anyone, and whatever I need to do to protect her happiness and the stability she has right now, I will.”

“Of course,” Frankie says. Sighing, he says, “Cyrus, I’m so sorry. You tried to warn me, and I didn’t- This rivalry he’s decided to start, you’ve been nothing but reasonable. I never thought Alex would go this far.”

Giving a sympathetic smile, Cyrus offers, “He’s young, sir. Ambitious. He doesn’t like someone else having his big brother’s ear so thoroughly. That said, he’s also good at his job. In complete honesty, if the opportunity had presented itself, this is something I might have done when I was younger, before I learned how important family truly can be. He and I both believe you are what America needs. It’s personal for both of us, but for him, it’s more so. You are his family. And if leaving you alone will protect mine, I will.”

“No,” Frankie declares. “Cyrus, I need you on my campaign. I promise you, you don’t need to worry about Ella, Tom, or Michael. Alex is going to- I’m going to make sure he stops.”

“Then, I’m with you until Election Day, Governor Vargas.”

Frankie nods and offers a small smile. “Grief is a horrible thing for people to face, that can make them do things- It’s terrible what this Elizabeth North did to you. How she used such a tragedy against you. Ideal or not, I’m glad you’ve found someone special. I know you can never have what you and James had, but maybe, someday, you and Tom can have something that, in it’s own way, is just as wonderful.”

Cyrus stands, and Frankie follows suit.

“Michael is a good stepfather to Ella, and even with how it ended, I can’t bring myself to wish that James and I had never gotten together. But I do wish I’d been able to see Tom clearly much earlier. There’s so much- maybe it happening this way, now, is for the best, but I’m always going to wonder.”

“Just don’t let your wondering about that cause you to always wonder about everything else involving him,” Frankie advises him. “The person James knew was brave and strong enough to build a life with him and your daughter. You won’t honour him by clinging to him and the pain of losing him instead of letting yourself be brave and strong again.”

For a few seconds, Cyrus is quiet. Then, offering his hand, he says, “Thank you, sir.”

Frankie shakes it.


End file.
